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Vitter: Chemicals Bill to Provide Nationwide Rulebook

By Pat Rizzuto

Dec. 18 — Legislation
the Senate passed unanimously Dec. 17 that would overhaul the
primary U.S. chemicals law would set consistent national standards
for chemical regulations across the country, Sen. David Vitter
(R-La.) said Dec. 18.

“When the EPA acts, that is the rulebook for the
entire country, which is the only way an industry like this, which
isn't just national, it's international, can remain an innovation
leader,” Vitter said during a briefing the morning after the Senate
voted unanimously by voice vote to pass the Frank R. Lautenberg
Chemical Safety for the 21st Century Act (S.697) . The Senate's
bill was renumbered as H.R. 2576, so it could be sent back to the
House for consideration, Senate staff told Bloomberg BNA.

The bill would balance the new authority it would
give the Environmental Protection Agency with specific requirements
so the regulated community and interested public can better
understand the reasoning for the agency's decisions about
chemicals, Vitter said.

“As we gave EPA more authority, we wanted to make
sure it acted with that authority in a completely transparent way
that is based on completely sound science. I think there are
significant protections in the bill,” Vitter said.

Sen. Edward Markey (D-Mass.), who originally opposed
the bill, said he agreed to support it after language was added to
provide the EPA more funding from industry fees; require industry
compliance with regulations by set deadlines; require the EPA to
act more quickly to address hazardous chemicals, such as asbestos,
more quickly; and provide additional protection for populations
vulnerable to chemicals.

“None of us standing up here believe it is perfect,”
Markey said. “But it's this kind of bipartisan commitment, married
with compromise, that yields important, long-lasting
legislation.”

Udall Highlights Changes to
TSCA

Sen. Tom Udall (D-N.M.) worked with Vitter for more
than two years to secure passage of this legislation, which took
minutes to approve on the by voice vote floor .

“After years of negotiations, collaboration and
working with stakeholders across the country, we have made
tremendous progress toward historic, bipartisan environmental
reform,” Udall said.

In a floor speech later in the day, Udall
highlighted key features of the bill and changes it would make to
existing TSCA:

• “Our bill requires EPA to assess chemicals
based only on the health and safety information, not on the
cost.”

• “Our bill gives EPA new authorities to require
testing data and it requires [the EPA to make] a finding of safety
before new chemicals—as many as 1,500 a year—enter the
market.”

• “Our bill explicitly requires the protection
of vulnerable populations and lists examples of populations such as
infants, the elderly, pregnant women, workers and others.”

• “Our bill requires the EPA to systematically
review all the chemicals in commerce, prioritizing all the
chemicals of most concern first, and it sets aggressive judicially
enforceable deadlines for EPA decisions.”

• “Our bill includes a section on sustainable
chemistry and also makes more information about chemicals available
by limiting industries' ability to claim information as
confidential.”

• “Our bill gives EPA sustained sources of
funding and assures that EPA's priorities are not overwhelmed by
private interests to ensure that the program we implement is a risk
based system.”

• “Our bill provides an appropriate balance
between federal and state actions.”

Next Steps

Udall discussed next steps to reconcile the Senate
bill with House legislation that narrowly changed TSCA.

The House approved its TSCA Modernization Act (H.R.
2576) in June by a 398-1 vote (39 CRR 775, 6/29/15).

Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) lifted her objections
to the TSCA-reform bill proceeding to the Senate floor even though
neither chamber has reached any agreement regarding the specific
approach they will use to address differences between the two
bills, Udall said.

Staff from both chambers will work toward
reconciling the bills during the holiday break, Udall said.

The next session of Congress begins on Jan. 5, 2016,
for the House and on Jan. 11, 2016, for the Senate.

Vitter said all sides will be working to complete a
final TSCA-reform bill in early 2016.

Rep. John Shimkus (R-Ill.), who shepherded the House
bill through that chamber, told Bloomberg BNA the House is open to
looking at provisions in the Senate bill that are absent from the
House legislation, such as the Senate's change that would require
the EPA assess the safety of new chemicals before they enter
commerce.

“I'm not going to require or request my folks to
burn the midnight oil all through the break, destroy their
holidays, when we can come back and start the process in January. I
think there will be a lot of time during the regular workday,
regular hours when members can talk to senators, staff can talk to
staff.

“The real question is, ‘do we go the formal route or
are there discussions that can happen where it's not [formal],' ”
Shimkus said.

Speaker of the House Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) likes having
formal conferences, Shimkus said, but added if the chambers used an
informal process all stakeholders would be heard. “I'm very
optimistic. Very exciting.”

Mark Duvall, an attorney with Beveridge &
Diamond PC who consults with chemical companies and their trade
associations, told Bloomberg BNA the House and Senate bills are
notable.

Despite the chamber's general lack of
bipartisanship, “both houses overwhelmingly approved legislation
giving EPA significant new authority. Both sides should be
congratulated on feat of magic,” Duvall said.

Additional Public Health
Protections

Boxer did not attend the briefing, but her office
provided Bloomberg BNA a list of changes it said she negotiated
with Sen. James Inhofe (R-Okla.) initially followed by Udall and
Vitter.

The changes have been added since April when the
Senate Environment and Public Works Committee approved the bill (39
CRR 514, 5/4/15).

The changes include:

• as the EPA would determine which chemicals to
evaluate first for safety, it would have to give priority to those
that are known human carcinogens and have high acute and chronic
toxicity, such as asbestos;

• the EPA also would have to consider whether
the chemical is stored near a significant source of drinking water
as it sets priorities;

• the EPA would have to complete chemical safety
assessments under tighter deadlines;

• the scope of the EPA's preemption of state law
is more limited; and

• a revision to the Public Health Service Act
through a Trevor's Law provision that would give federal agencies
explicit authority to investigate cancer clusters.

More Changes Since Committee
Approval in April

Senate staff also provided a summary listing
highlights of the bill in general and changes made since the EPW
committee approved it. The summary says the bill would:

• direct the EPA to use its Framework for Metals
Risk Assessment as it prioritizes and assesses metals and metal
compounds;

• require the EPA to provide additional details
on its safety assessments and safety determinations in a annual
report to Congress; and

• require companies comply with regulations
within four years, with an extension of up to 18 months available
if compliance is not technologically or economically
feasible.

Line-by-Line Assistance

Many technical changes and small revisions to the
bill have been made to tighten it up and ensure it would not,
inadvertently, throw new obstacles in front of the EPA, Senate
staff told Bloomberg BNA.

Agency and Senate staff conducted a line-by-line
review of the bill, they said.

Scientists from the American Chemical Society
provided guidance throughout the bill's development as well, Udall
said.

A group of toxicologists convened by the Society of
Toxicology consulted with Senate staff on issues such as chemical
safety tests, William Farland, a member of that group and former
senior EPA scientist, said during a recent Society for Risk
Analysis meeting.

As the TSCA-reform bill was revised through
negotiations, the language on its scientific requirements became
more accurate and less prescriptive, Farland said.

The task force did not want the law to inadvertently
freeze toxicity testing by requiring any specific technologies, he
said.

With assistance from Anthony Adragna in
Washington.

To contact the reporter on this story: Pat Rizzuto
in Washington at prizzuto@bna.com

To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Larry Pearl at lpearl@bna.com

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